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Did the steering wheel inserts in your Sonata start peeling? I was always very careful not to touch that part too much, and mine never did it. I have seen some though that look terrible.
Our 2013 has this problem, it would drive me nuts, but wife is the main driver and when I asked her, she said she hasn't noticed anything.
She really sees the car as an appliance. Wouldn't know if the sound system was amazing or the handling was crap. Just checks the mileage on the ODO and freaks out when it goes over 100K.
Right now she is at 112K miles and once in a while asks for a new car merely because of that. Offered to cover the ODO with a tape.
I bought my 2015 Elantra new. One minor issue was a dashboard trim piece was lifting off. Dealership corrected this permanently at no cost to myself. One major issue was with the VVT and timing. It seems the engine idle was set so low that after the engine was fully warmed up when I came to a full and complete stop the idle would drop to a stall point. I had to keep my foot on the gas at a stop to keep the engine running until I could get to the dealership. It took time for them to fix the problem as they had to contact the technicians at Hyundai with so much of the engine being controlled by the computer. My experience was made less painful thanks to good dealer support providing me with a loaner vehicle newer than my own. At one point they had me in a brand new Elantra. Every so often I feel the slight vibration like it’s getting close to stall and then the RPMs rise slightly above the stall point. As I understand this may have been due to trying to maximize actual fuel efficiency by having the idle set so close to the stall point. I remember the bit of controversy when this generation Elantra’s came out over their actual fuel economy which was lower than projected. Because of how I drive I get above the MPG my car was rated for. The Corolla was the other vehicle I was seriously considering. The ride, comfort, passenger space, acceleration, and fuel economy were on par with the Elantra but then they changed the exterior styling to the big mouth. Then when I added the features I wanted the Corolla was a few thousand more than the Elantra with the same equipment. Today’s Corolla is much better styled and I would love the Corolla hatchback as it has functional storage of the hatch as well as four wheel independent suspension for comfort. To get that with the current Elantra I would have to step up to the N or sport model and there’s no more Elantra hatchback. Have to go up to a crossover at Hyundai though that wouldn’t be bad. Wife’s Kona is pretty good even without the four wheel independent suspension. You get that suspension if you step up to all wheel drive.
My '13 Elantra was as good as the 2005 Honda Civic that I had before it and it cost a lot less. The Honda had wheel bearings that would quit often and the alternator went on it pretty early. It also had a timing belt so that had to be replaced a few times. I think I only had to do one set of struts and shocks in all the miles. Engine quit at 300,000 and I got a deal on a used engine. Tran quit at 385,000 so I got rid of it and got the Elantra.
The Elanta had a chain so that saved me $$. But the steering rack went at about 150,000 and the starter around that time too. The struts and shocks lasted as long as they did on the Honda. The alternator went when I was nearing 300,000. At 305,000 the engine and tran were running fine but I hit a dear and decided that it was time to get a Kia Forte because a dealer had a great deal on a 2017. The gas mileage of the Elantra was not as good as the Honda, but it still wasn't bad - anout 10% less than Honda. The Forte gets just as good fuel economy as the Honda did. I'm only up to 70,000 miles so maintenance issues have not come up. I needed brakes done as 60,000.
2005 Sportage - had AC problems from the get go and the heat went out about 2 yrs ago. Engine / Tranny - no issues. The only repairs I had to make (other than standard maintenance) was some type of electronic thing went out and it cost me about $300 to fix. Not bad at all for driving the car for 15yrs. We gave it to our daughter last month when we bought a Buick Encore for our "secondary" car.
2011 Eleantra - car did fine Only issue we had was that the car would not recognize when we put it into park. However, that was probably our fault for letting to much junk get under the shifter. My wife was working at the time and she put about 120k miles on it. I traded it in in 2017 so I could have something a little bigger / more comfortable.
2020 Kia Niro - Bought in July, so far so good. Alot of stuff that used to be only sold in high-end vehicles are in the Niro. Our overall real world gas milage has been about 45mpg. I bought it because I will have a 40 mile each way commute when I start going back into the office. If you look at the Niro's, skip the bottom trim and start looking at the LSX level which has all of the driver safety features. Infotainment system is also pretty high end for it's class.
So overall 2 Kia's and 1 Hyundai and other than the AC issue in the Sportage, no real issues.
Had a brand new Rio, 2011 I believe. It was the last year of that generation. It was alright.
Compared to my ‘97 Civic and 2000 Echo, though, it was rough around the edges.
The plastic inside was far too easily scratched. The trans lacked polish. The engine felt heavy and resistant to revving, and fuel economy was really not acceptable for something of its size - both the Echo and Civic average over 40mpg with only light hypermiling techniques, where the Kia was really only good for low-mid 30s driven similarly. The Kia has the smoothest isle of all three. Room wise it was fine for a bargain basement car, but wasn’t laid out as well as my Echo was - for instance, both had about the same trunk volume, but the opening on the Rio was a bit too small. Large items which could otherwise fit in the trunk sometimes couldn’t make it through the trunk opening. The suspension was a bit too stiff - the non-independent rear suspension could step out much more easily than the Echo, which had a similar rear suspension setup, just sprung more softly and compliantly. Both the Echo and Kia has 4-speed automatics, but the Echo, even when loaded closer to the heavier Kia’s curb weight, was more sprightly and responsive. The Civic lacks the variable valve timing of either of them and instead has a five speed manual. Off the line it feels similar to the Kia, but the engine has a light and revvy sophistication to it that both of the others lack.
Compared to my Civic, both handled poorly. The Civic is the only two-door of the bunch, so I don’t really count its lack of space too harshly against it.
The Kia had one bum ignition coil, but no further failures, but I can’t say that it would outlast my Echo, which made it fairly close to 300k miles before it sprung a leaky radiator and I decided I didn’t want to repair it anymore. My Civic is coming up on 190k and I did have to replace the alternator.
I wasn’t that impressed with the Kia. The one thing it did really well was styling - I still think the European-ish exterior was quite handsome for such a small car. But it just needs work on the suspension and powertrain to really be on par even with older Japanese small cars. The Echo was fugly, but for a sedan could haul way more than it had any right to, and the Civic has a mechanical sophistication which the others lack. In most respects the Kia didn’t measure up.
In defense of the Kia, it was designed before Hyundai/Kia really found their stride. The fact that it didn’t quite measure up to older Japanese models isn’t reflective of what Hyundai/Kia is capable of doing today vis a vis other competitors.
Had a 2014 Kia Soul Exclaim ! No issues whatsoever other than normal maintenance in 6 years. Traded in on 2020 Kia Soul GT Line Turbo (new). At 13 months (5k), Transmission banging, Lane departure system wonky, GPS Navigation system stopping, and Paint chipping in many areas of the car (flaking off, not stone chips). Kia wouldn’t cover the paint. Traded in on another brand. Quality control issues.
We had a 2000 Honda Accord 6 cylinder for 10 years; really liked that car. Traded it for a 2010 Mazda 6 and traded that for a 2017 Kia Sorento EX. I like the Kia just as much as the Honda, no problems whatsoever. My wife likes the Kia more than any vehicle we have ever had.
2014 base KIA Soul with automatic. At 50K I've replaced the battery and the tires. I'll have to have the front brakes replaced at the next oil change in about 1,000 miles. Its just been extremely reliable and is holding up very well.
Its not a great car in snow, however. Every big snow I wish I had a larger heavier car with AWD but I just can't give away a car that seems almost charmed reliability wise. Maybe in another ten years.
2014 Kia Soul ! With Shabang package bought used with 40k miles. Traded in at 77k. No issues, none
2014 Kia Soul + bought used with 12k traded in with 50k, no issues, none
Both of these traded in on a 2020 Kia Soul GT Line Turbo. Stick ended at $29,800. Paid $24,500 out the door. What a piece of junk. Transmission banging and paint chipping. Traded in on a Subaru Outback Onyx. Subaru dealer gave me $21,000 in trade (I had the Kia for 15 months). This was 2 months ago. The Kia is still in their lot now priced down to 18,300. $11,500 drop over 1 year. 40% depreciation first year.. might be the worst value out there. Glad it only cost me 3500 for 15 months. No more Hyundai or Kia for me.
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